6 reasons why the Capital One Venture (with a limited-time 100k bonus) is worth the annual fee

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I have the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. I’ve used the Capital One miles I’ve earned to dramatically reduce my expenses during fun vacations, like trips to the Caribbean and Dubai. The card collects some of the most useful rewards ever.

When you’re deciding whether you should open any of the best credit cards for travel, oftentimes the answer is…it depends. It depends on your travel style, it depends on your travel goals, it depends on your home airport. The Capital One Venture is perhaps the least “it depends” card out there. If you want to travel, this card will guarantee you’ll save hundreds of dollars. That’s especially true given it’s currently offering an increased welcome bonus of up to 100,000 Venture miles after meeting minimum spending requirements.

It’s got a $95 annual fee, but we’ll show you why you should open the card anyway.

Is the Capital One Venture worth it?

The Capital One Venture is absolutely worth opening — for a multitude of reasons.

The welcome bonus is incredibly valuable

You can earn up to 100,000 bonus miles when you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months from account opening. Or, still earn 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months.

In other words, Capital One will pay for $1,000 worth of your upcoming travel — and there’s no catch. They’re just giving you the opportunity to earn $1,000 when you meet the full minimum spending requirements.

The card does have a $95 annual fee, but (as you can see) that’s easily offset by the welcome offer.

You can use miles for just about anything travel-related

The card earns a flat 2 miles per dollar for every purchase. This means you’ll have 140,000 Capital One miles ($1,400 in travel) after you meet the spending requirement to earn the full sign up bonus. If you don’t think you can spend $20,000 in 12 months, check out our post on how easy it can be to meet credit card minimum spend.

Here’s a list of popular purchases for which you can redeem Capital One miles:

• Airlines
• Hotels (including boutique and independent hotels)
• Car rentals
• Cruise lines
• Hotel meals (when charged to your hotel room, including Disney hotels)
• Airbnb
• Lyft and Uber
• Disney World tickets or other park tickets purchased through Undercover Tourist

You can transfer Capital One miles

You can also transfer your miles to a bunch of different airlines, and in April 2021 Capital One made waves in the points and miles arena by significantly improving some partner transfer rates and adding several exciting new partners to its program.

While the miles transfer ratio had been a funky 2:1.5 for all partners, Capital One has significantly boosted this ratio to 1:1 (a 25% increase) for the following partners:

• Avianca (offers affordable Star Alliance flights)
• Etihad (a source of inexpensive award prices on American Airlines)
• Cathay Pacific (known for terrific business class on Cathay Pacific or American Airlines)
• AeroMexico
• Finnair
• Qantas (good for domestic flights on American Airlines)
• Wyndham

What’s more, as of April 2021, Capital One has also added in the following new partners, shown below with their respective transfer ratios:

• British Airways (2:1.5)
• Turkish Airlines (2:1.5)
• Choice Hotels (1:1)
• TAP Portugal (1:1)

The following partners remain on board with their transfer ratio of 2:1.5:

• Accor Hotels
• Air Canada (Aeroplan)
• Air France & KLM (Flying Blue)
• Alitalia
• Emirates
• EVA Air
• JetBlue
• Singapore Airlines

Transferring rewards can very well be the best way to use Capital One miles. If you’re thorough, you can often find a way to get outsized value for your miles. Read more about Capital One transfer partners.

You’ll get exclusive perks at airport security checkpoints

The card also comes with a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit (worth up to $100). Global Entry saves you lots of time by getting you quickly through US Customs and Immigration when you return to the US from abroad.

When you enroll in Global Entry, you’ll also receive a membership to TSA PreCheck, which allows you to keep your shoes and jacket on when you go through airport security. You don’t even have to take your laptop and toiletries out of your carry-on.

There are no foreign transaction fees

Some credit cards will incur a 3% fee if you use them for purchases outside the U.S. The Capital One Venture waives these fees, so it’s a good international companion. I recently saved more than $70 on a recent overseas trip just by using a card that waived my foreign transaction fees.

FAQ about the Capital One Venture

Is there a way to get the Capital One Venture annual fee waived?

You won’t be able to get the first year’s annual fee waived, but you can always ask to get subsequent annual fees waived. In fact, I just did this when my Venture card annual fee came due last month. After a five minute conversation with a Capital One representative, they agreed to waive my fee as a one-time courtesy. 

Admittedly I was surprised, as we don’t regularly hear of Capital One waiving fees. But it’s always worth a try, as the worst that can happen is that they say no!

Should you downgrade from the Capital One Venture?

If you ultimately decide that the Capital One Venture benefits and perks aren’t worth the annual fee, you can simply downgrade the card to the no-annual-fee Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card. You’ll get to keep your account number, and your credit won’t take a hit for canceling a card.

What credit score do you need to get a Capital One Venture card?

According to Capital One, an approval for the Capital One Venture Card requires a good to excellent credit score. That typically means applicants should have a credit score of 700+ and a solid credit history. 

Bottom line

The Capital One Venture is a no-brainer card for the first year, and one of the fastest ways to earn Capital One miles. You can receive well over $1,100 in value if you use all the card’s benefits. Read our Capital One Venture review for all the details.

For a lot of folks, the Capital One Venture’s benefits and perks are worth the annual fee.

Let me know if you think the Capital One Venture is worth opening. And subscribe to our newsletter to get the details on more miles & points deals.